Come On, Skinny Love, What Happened Here?
by G.N. Took-Baggins
Summary: When the S.H.I.E.L.D. Team and S.T.A.R. Labs Team collide, old secrets are unraveled and old scars reopened. (MayWells, SnowBarry, FitzSimmons & HuntingBird. Also, whump for like everyone :P)
1. The Tree Of Life

Barry Allen walked down the halls of S.T.A.R. Labs with Dr. Wells' wheelchair rolling along beside him, he had one hand rested on the back of the wheelchair as he spoke, hoping that Dr. Wells could help him. "It's just...I told her how I felt and she just didn't say anything. Then at the party she was all cuddled up with Eddie and barely said a word to me and I don't know what to do," he said, looking down at the older man.

Harrison Wells regarded the young metahuman with a thoughtful look, "Barry, I am a colleague of yours. I am not your boss, I am not your therapist and I am most certainly," he stopped and raised an eyebrow at Barry. "Not unproffesional, and this conversation is unproffesional.

Barry sighed and nodded. "You're right. I'm-"

He was interrupted. "However," Dr. Wells continued. "That being said, I think you're being impatient. Iris is a woman who is currently involved in a relationship with another man. For you to spring this on her and expect to her to just fall at your feet, it's unfair. You need to give her time to think, you certainly gave her a lot to think about. I mean, for years, you've been a brother to her."

The younger man clenched his teeth. "I didn't expect her to fall at my feet, and I know she's seen me like a brother, but it's more unfair for her to just ignore me and be all...hands on with Eddie at the party."

Dr. Wells pulled his glasses off and set them in his lap, he rubbed his forehead. "I'm not saying what Iris did was justified, but she is bound to Eddie. I mean he just asked her to move in, it'd be unfair to Eddie for her to not give all of her attention to him. Put yourself in her position."

Barry scrunched up his nose. "Eh, I don't think I'm comfortable with that."

"Not her exact position, with Eddie. But in her situation, if someone like...Caitlin suddenly told you she loved you, how would you react? Would you break up with the girl that you were probably planning to marry to be with Caitlin, just because of her feelings for you? What if you didn't return them?"

The click of heels approaching them made them suspect it was the aforementioned woman herself, but the cleared throat and sharp tone confirmed it. "What if she didn't have them in the first place?" she said, slightly confused.

Barry blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Oh, h-hi. Dr. Wells was just...helping me. With the Iris situation. The whole...botched confession," he said, chewing on his lip.

"I see," Caitlin surveyed them both, her usual sternness softening slightly. "Well, I'm glad you two are bonding, but we've got a situation."

"W-we weren't bonding," Barry stammered quietly.

However, Dr. Wells spoke up. "What kind of situation?"

"You hear of an organization called Hydra?" She caught Dr. Wells' face and shook her head. "Me neither. Well this Hydra turned up on the search monitor that Felicity installed last time she was here, it monitors all search systems, police, domestic, etcetera, for any keywords or phrases you specify it to. Cisco had it tuned to words like 'metahuman' and 'superhuman'. We thought it'd be a long shot, but this was pinged," she held out the paper that she'd been holding, which Barry only just now noticed.

Dr. Wells slipped his glasses back on and took the paper from Caitlin. His eyes scanned the page, a touch of alarm appearing on his face. "Are you sure about this?" he asked, looking up to meet Caitlin's wary gaze.

She nodded as Barry took the paper from Wells. The paper was transcript of a news report from Puerto Rico, the translation read: _The collapse of Ponce De Leon theater came as a shock to everyone. The cause of the collapse can't be found, but a man - who prefers to remain anonymous - came out of the rubble claiming that it was caused by superhumans. He said a woman named Raina is involved and that she works for an organization named Hydra. He also mentioned a Daniel Whitehall, claiming he too was involved._

Barry frowned. "I don't understand, a superhuman caused the building to collapse, what does that mean?" he asked, looking at Dr. Wells, who was frowning.

"It means that we have a situation," he said, his wheelchair accelerating forwards, down the hall towards the main lab area.

The three continued in silence till they reached the lab where Cisco sat at the computer, scrolling through search results. He looked up as they entered and he spun his chair around to face them. "I've been reading up on this Hydra, they're into some pretty shady stuff. They're a group of mostly Nazi's, that is, were. Back during World War II, they were a group of Nazi's who believed they were the subjects of a higher power, and I'm not taking sweet baby Jesus or Santa Claus. More like Yggdrasil and Odin."

"What does the Tree of Life have to do with this?" Barry asked, taking a seat.

"Their leader, Johann Schmidt, believed that Yggdrasil's power was in this cube thing, called a Tesseract. They practically worshipped this thing, believing that they were going to ascend or something. Well they were fighting America's super soldier back during World War II and he killed their leader, but as Hydra's motto went-"

Dr. Wells cut in, saying. "Cut off one head, two more shall take it's place?"

Cisco stopped and looked at him shocked, Caitlin's face mirroring his expression. "How did you know that?" Cisco asked, baffled.

"My college professor used to say that, he talked about the myth of the Hydra quite often, used to think it was the most intriguing creature in history," Dr. Wells seemed to almost be in a different time as he spoke, his eyes had a light to them and the ghost of a smile danced across his face.

"And?" Caitlin prompted.

He seemed to snap out of it. "And he was locked away after trying to decapitate himself, saying 'I am Hydra'. That's what really stuck with me, he didn't say he was 'a Hydra', he said 'am Hydra. It's peculiar."

Caitlin put one hand on the back of Barry's chair and leaned into it, biting her lip thoughtfully. "It could be like a mental state, he believes that he is Hydra. Like if you believe that you're, say a mouse, you'd say 'I am a mouse'. But if you believe that you're more than one mouse - or in this case, have more than one head - you'd say 'I am mice'." She looked up at Cisco, who was who she usually proposed ideas to. He was giving her a disbelieving look.

Barry sighed and glanced at Dr. Wells, slightly disturbed by his story. "So, even if this guy truly believed he was some mythical creature, how does this solve our problem of a...superhuman?"

Cisco spun his chair so he was facing his desk again. "Well, Felicity - the computer goddess - gave us the ability to do this," he keyed in a few bits of code and a video feed popped up onto one of the screens to his left. He waved at theatrically, a grin on his lips.

"What are we seeing here?" Dr. Wells asked, leaning forwards in his wheelchair. He rubbed a hand over his face and it caught Caitlin's attention, she could read just how tired he was.

She wanted to send him home to get some rest, and a glass of brandy, but she wouldn't have been able to do that anymore. Maybe if it was before the accident, before he lost his legs, she would have gotten away with much more when it came to taking care of him. As much as Cisco and her took care of him now, he did the same for them, and then some.

Watching him now she had a flood of old memories, of him before. The way he was constantly smiling, the way he'd tap his foot when he was thinking, the annual S.T.A.R. Labs Christmas party, when he'd dance with everyone, even his favourite partner Ronnie. He'd seemed more alive back then, now he was just void of joy most of the time.

It broke her heart to see him, and to think of what he must have been like with his wife. If he'd been broken when she first met him, then he must have been an absolute joy with Tess, it made Caitlin hurt, seeing that the light in his eye was gone. When she first met him, he'd been almost how he was now, but the more he grew to know - and love - Caitlin, Cisco and...Ronnie. The more he'd learned to become a loving, joyful man, which he was not now.

She pulled herself out of the daze and looked at Cisco as he was excitingly motioning at the screen. "This is a video feed of just outside of the _Ponce De Leon_, I recovered it from broken satellite footage, which was also a gift from Felicity," he was grinning wildly.

Barry chuckled slightly, as Cisco rambled on, he focused on the screen, which displayed an alcove that was crumbling down, the rest of the building that was visible, it didn't look like it would stay standing for long. They all watched as two men came out, one holding the other up, they were followed by a young woman being carried by another man, who were then followed by another young man and woman, who were being accompanied by two older women.

A frown passed on Dr. Wells' face. "A whole team of people?" He asked. "What on earth were they doing?"

"Being suspicious?" Barry offered, leaning back. He didn't say another word after Caitlin and Wells gave him the same look, disapproval.

"Well, I know one thing for sure," said Caitlin, grabbing a chair from behind her and sitting down. "We don't have time for this, on top of dealing with the other metahuman, Opposite-Barry or whatever."

"Reverse-Flash!" Cisco piped in.

Barry and Caitlin gave him a look and Barry said. "That's pretty dumb."

"Actually, I kind of like it," Wells said, glancing at Cisco approvingly. It didn't seem like too strange behavior coming from him, but he also couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. He'd never dreamed that Cisco's only good nickname would be for him.

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><p><strong>(Hehe, I couldn't resist that last bit.)<strong>

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.**

**There might not be an update for awhile, or there might be an update sooner than you'd like, I'm not sure right now, but whenever there is one, know that it will be dramatic, and it will be all about SHIELD. :3**

**God Bless,  
><strong>**~Nicci :)**

**P.S. Expect the unexpected in this fic, just saying.**


	2. The Man In The Yellow Suit

**I know, Coulson's OOC here, but I love the idea of a softer, more fatherly version of him. It's too lovable to leave be. :)**

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><p><em>A brush of cool air awoke the young maiden from her cursed slumber, not the kiss of a royal or the touch of the reaper, just a chill blowing breeze. Her eyes opened, the long lashes flicking up with a gentle flutter. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when she saw the sinful eyes of her dark lover, his skin - the color of burnt umber - barely reflecting light and the claws on his fingers sunken into the woodworks of her ceiling.<em>

_A lustful burn was in his eye as he took in the sight of her stretched out on her bed in her silken nightgown. He gave her one last glance before releasing the ceiling and flapping his enormous wings, carrying his weight over to the window._

_She leapt out of her bed and cried out 'Don't go!'._

_Her forbidden love with this dark creature was dangerous for her and her kingdom. But the pearl teeth that flashed a grin at her from the window sent her heart soaring and she could barely hold it in. The creature stalked across the room, reaching out one clawed hand to trail down her neck, sending shameful shudders down her back..._

BAM. The slap on the table nearly sent Skye's tablet across the room and a shriek came out of her mouth. "What?" she demanded, whipping around to glare at...May.

She bit her lip and retreated her head, watching her superior officer come around the side of the couch.

"What are you reading, Skye?" May asked, hands on hips.

Skye turned off her tablet and stuffed it into the sofa cushion. "Nothing," she shrugged, trying to keep the blush from her cheeks. She knew that May would most likely judge her for what she was reading, but the motherly figure whom she adored was giving her a look that told her she was already judging her.

"Oh come on, May. Don't tell me you didn't read _scandalous_ books when you were younger?" Skye chuckled, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning forwards to rest them on the arm of the couch.

One eyebrow rose up slowly and May moved around to sit next to her. "I didn't often read romance novels," she said.

Skye spun to look at her and laid back. "Why not? Because it reminded you too much of your life with Coulson?" she said in a teasing tone and laughed, but it died after May gave her a look.

"Because I didn't need to go to books to find a man who caught my interests. The one I had was more than enough," she said, her eyes clouded slightly, distant in a way. Abruptly, she stood up again, suddenly very stiff. She was normally stiff, but this was more than usual. "Let's not do this."

Skye stood up and put a hand on her arm. "Hey, I didn't mean to pry, or open any old wounds. I'm sorry," she said, pursing her lips together tightly.

The older woman turned to look at her, a glare settling in her eyes and she pulled her arm back. "I didn't ask for your sympathy."

If anyone could make something sting, it was May, not because of the exact words she used, but because of the coldness in her voice. Skye bristled and bit back. "I wasn't offering it," she took a step back, trying not to let her pain get the best of her.

After having discovered her powers, Skye knew what she was capable of and did her best not to get too emotional, afraid of tearing her friends to pieces. She already knew the consequences of her powers, Trip was gone and that meant a world of loneliness for her. She tried to lose herself in books and work, but wherever she went, Trip wouldn't be there. And that's what hurt the most.

May caught the pained expression and sighed softly, but it was too late. Skye had already gathered up her things and was on her way back to her room, where she collapsed on her bed and let out a slow groan. She was on edge more and more since Puerto Rico, and she didn't know how to control herself if she got out of hand.

A soft knock came on her door and she flipped over on her stomach. "Yeah?" she called out, hoping it wasn't May.

The tense feeling in her chest loosened up some when Coulson's tender voice came through the door. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah," she repeated, but this was one of defeat. She knew she couldn't win against these people, she wouldn't be able to have some alone time, they would always be there wanting to help. And she loved that more than she could stand, she wanted to hate them for it, but instead she gave in.

The gentle features of Phil Coulson's face poked through the door and he gave a little smile. "Hey," he said smoothly and she responded in much the same fashion. "You okay?" he asked, slipping into the room.

She nodded slowly. "Yup...you know when you're talking to May and you say something that hits a little too close and she suddenly gets really far away and hard to reach and then she just brushes you off like it was nothing?" she asked, quite quickly and she turned to fix him with a stare.

Coulson laughed softly. "Oh, trust me. I know. I've known May for 27 years and she's always been like that, so don't you worry, it's not just you," his smile was infectious and a similar one appeared on Skye's face. "I've heard the nastiest Melinda's got to say, and it was all directed at me. But I still know that in the end, she doesn't mean any of it."

Another sigh escaped her mouth, through the grin and she nodded a bit. "Thanks, AC," she said, standing up. "So, I would assume we've got work to do?" she asked, nodding towards the tablet in Coulson's hand.

He stood up and held it out to her. "You tell me."

She frowned and looked down at the tablet. It was a list of searches, specified to keywords, in this case, keywords like 'Hydra'. She scanned through them. "Why is," she checked the tablet again. "S.T.A.R. Labs looking into Hydra? There's about 17 searches here relating to Hydra, including 'Yggdrasil', 'Johann Schmidt' and- are you kidding me? 'Hydra; evil conspiracy theories'? Do they have a college student there?" she gave Coulson a disbelieving look. "I think they were probably hacked by some kid looking to get them in trouble."

Coulson reached out and flicked the screen sideways, it flipped over to display a staff list for S.T.A.R. Labs, he tapped the name 'Cisco Ramon'. A file came up, a picture of a young man was on the left. The date of birth section read; 12/9/89

"God, he's just a kid!" she exclaimed, squinting and looking at the picture. "Why are we looking into this kid specifically?" she asked.

"Because, it was pinged from his computer."

Skye nodded thoughtfully, then frowned. "Hang on, how did you find all this out? I'm your computer girl and...I didn't look this up."

Coulson smirked. "Turns out, Lance is good for something other than hitting people. He just clicked whatever he could see that seemed to make any sense until he found what we needed."

"Oh, okay." She bit her lip.

He leaned in a bit. "He's definitely not you, but he's at least better than me. Come on, let's make sure he didn't break something."

Skye chuckled a bit and followed, giving a reluctant shrug.

They found their way back to the computer room, where FitzSimmons, May and Bobbi were. Skye gave a small smile to May and then fiddled with the computer until the search list appeared on the big screen and she began scrolling through them. "Hm," she frowned and studied the details - timestamps, location, results, etc.

She brought a map up and found S.T.A.R. Labs, honing in on Central City. "Not too far from Starling, we went there to check up on your old buddy Bobbi, remember?" she said teasingly, flipping through more results.

Bobbi scoffed and folded her arms. "Slade Wilson was not my buddy, he was...hotter than that," she glared at Lance, who had appeared in the doorway with a snort, upon hearing what she said.

As Skye was scanning for S.T.A.R. Labs, the screen cut short and then was replaced by a video feed of a man. He was dressed almost entirely in yellow, and his eyes glowed red. It was hard to focus on him, as he seemed to be hovering back and forth. His body was almost vibrating and you couldn't get a good look at his face or any of his features.

They all leaned in, then FitzSimmons and Skye jumped back when a contorted voice boomed out of the speakers. "Stop looking into us," it demanded, before the screen went black. When it lit up again, the man was gone and the search map of Central City was gone also, it was all replaced by a geometric grey pattern with 3D red text that read 'LOCKED'.

"What in the hell was that?" Fitz squeaked as the lights in the room began to flicker, before going out entirely.

"I don't know," Coulson said darkly. "But I intend to find out. May, go make sure we're still staying in the air. When you're done with that, set a course for Central City. Skye, figure out what happened, take Fitz. Simmons, go check on Mack. Agent's Morse and Hunter, you're with me," and with that, the Director disappeared out of the room.

All of them exchanged a small look, before following their orders. They were under attack - for once it wasn't Hydra - and were all determined to find out who it was and stop them before someone got hurt.

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><p><strong>(Bobbi and Slade...I couldn't help myself. *evil laugh*)<strong>

**Again, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!**

**I'll be sure to update as soon as I can, you just sit tight and try to hope for the best. 8D**

**God Bless,  
><strong>**-Nicci**


	3. Why Can't We Be Friends?

**Thank you so much for the positive feedback! 3  
>And Happy New Year! This is my first update of 2015 and I'm pretty excited. What was your most memorable moment of 2014? :)<br>This is the longest one so far. :3 I hope you enjoy it!**

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><p>Dr. Harrison Wells switched off the camera and quickly changed back into his regular clothes, setting the suit back up on the mannequin. He walked over to the console that sat in the middle of the room and he tapped it. "Gideon," he said, waiting patiently. If there was one thing Harrison Wells was, it was a patient man. He'd been waiting years to meet Barry Allen for the first time, to create the Flash and he'd wait years more for the rest of Barry's life to play out according to plan.<p>

The only thing that made him impatient, was the little things of this year. The elevators were so slow, the computers were slow and he had to pretend that he couldn't move his legs, which meant that he had to use the wheelchair to get anywhere. Before he'd have been too impatient for these things, but ever since he'd jumped back to this decade, he'd found the drive to overcome the little things.

And now he was more patient than he was, he was determined now, determined for his plan to unfold perfectly and for the rest of the world to bend to his will.

Gideon replied, "Yes, Dr. Wells?"

"Show me the future," he said and he waited for the article of The Flash's disappearance to show on his screen. But it didn't, instead a picture of a woman came up. An Asian woman, with black hair that fell around her shoulders, a soft smile on her lips and an intense gaze that burned through the screen.

Harrison gasped softly, a pain shooting through him. "Why are you showing me this?" he asked quietly and the electronic feminine voice replied.

"This is the future."

"That's not possible," he frowned. "That woman is dead, that can't be right. Check again."

The picture disappeared for a second, then returned. "This is the future."

"Stop saying that, that is the future!" He fumed, pounding a fist on the console. The anger in him was overwhelming and he wanted to punch a hole in the wall. It wasn't possible for her to be the future, she was long dead. There was no way for her to come back after that, he'd felt her die. He'd held her hand until her last breath escaped.

Or had he?

It had been awhile, and it was possible...wasn't it?

No, not possible at all. Harrison turned and found his way back to his chair, he sat down and tucked his heels into the stabilizer, leaning back and resting his arms on the sides. He breathed heavily, soothing his anger, stamping down the burning rage.

The wheelchair turned and he maneuvered it to the door. He took one last glance over his shoulder at the picture, before rolling away.

The image faltered, before disappearing, along with the rest of the light from the room. But despite how dark it was, the gaze of Tess Morgan still pierced the air.

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><p>Barry Allen sat on the swivel stool, his feet dragging on the floor as he spun himself back and forth, staring at the coffee machine as the dark liquid drizzled out of the spout and down into the pot, creeping up to 4 brewed cups. But he wasn't thinking of coffee, his mind was stuck on Iris, he hadn't seen her since the Christmas party, she seemed to be avoiding him. Even sitting here at CC Jitters - where she worked, she still wasn't here.<p>

He saw a girl come out from behind the counter, she had a bob that was too red and a nose piercing that only made her nose look even smaller and more button like. The usual Jitters apron was tied around her waist, but underneath that were shorts that were short enough to make her legs almost look long.

Barry leapt off the stool and started towards her, calling out. "Daphne!" He followed her around the cafe, muttering "Excuse me" to the people that he pushed past. "Daphne!" he repeated.

She finished delivering the coffee's in her hands and then turned to look at Barry, a bit too late as he bumped into her. She sighed irritably and rubbed her little nose, looking at him scornfully. "What, Barry?" she asked, her high pitched voice sounding quite angry.

He sighed as well. "Where's Iris?" he asked, his head tilted down to meet her gaze.

"Probably at home, getting cozy with her fancy cop boy," she sounded jealous. "She called in this morning, saying she came down with some sorta cough. I didn't believe her, but it's just great! Cause now I gotta work the late shift tonight, 'cause Lotte's out of town on some cruise or somethin'," her voice grew more and more exasperated the more she went on and Barry put his hands on her shoulders. He gave her a little shake to keep her focused.

"Has she said anything recently? Something weird?" he asked.

Daphne gave a fake frown and shook her head. "Nah, just the usual about the Flash and Eddie and the Flash and, what was it again? Oh yeah! Eddie."

He shook his head. "No, about me."

She gave him a slightly sad look. "Bar, she told us all 'bout what ya said. She was really mad about it."

His face fell and he stepped back. "Oh."

She nibbled on her lip for a bit, before an insincere brightness appeared in her eyes. "Hey. Don't worry, she probably just needs time to think. Iris does that sometimes, she gets all weird and takes a few days off before showin' up again, all sunshines and roses. Jus' like usual." A little smile appeared, meant to cheer Barry up.

He sighed softly and tried to smile a bit. "It's okay Daphne, thanks anyway." He turned to go, his shoulders slumped.

"Hey!" She called after him, making him look back. "You want anything to drink?" she asked, walking towards the counter, swaying her hips with attitude.

He shrugged reluctantly. "Alright. Sure," he moved over to the counter and took a seat at one of the stools that were placed up against it. "I'll have a hot cider, to-go."

As Daphne prepared the drink, Barry watched the television above her. Per usual it was all about the weather and he let out a soft breath, beginning to get lost in his own thoughts. Iris, the Flash, Eddie, S.T.A.R. Labs, it was all a mess in his head and he couldn't seem to sort it out. Generally he could sort through the things in his mind and find what had reason and what didn't make sense. But now his emotions were clouding not only his mind, but his judgement.

He didn't know what to do, ever since he'd told Iris how he felt, he'd been going crazy, it was driving him over the edge. He was desperate to talk to her again and was starting to regret telling her, he just wanted his friend back.

"Here ya go, babe," Daphne leaned over the counter to set a to-go cup in front of Barry. He gave a weak smile and paid her.

"Thanks," he said, then left.

He caught the bus back to the precinct and arrived with no skip in his step. Which wasn't normal for him, he was almost always happy about being at work, but now his heart was too heavy to be joyful of anything.

He found his way through the building without being spoken to and slipped into his office. He shut the door heavily and considered locking it. The office was dark and he stumbled over to his desk, hissing through his teeth as the hot cider spilled onto his fingers. He set it down on the desk and then fumbled for the lamp. He pushed the switch and the light came on.

Pulling off his jacket and turning around slowly, he found himself face-to-face with Iris West. He yelped out a curse word and jumped. "Geez, Iris, you scared me," he said, trying to act casual, but on the inside his heart was racing. He wanted to give her the biggest bear hug she'd ever had in her life, but at the same time he was afraid of what she might say.

"Barry," she began, it sounded rehearsed. She was in jeans and a sweatshirt, entirely unusual for Iris. She was wearing some makeup, but her lip was dry and cracked, like she'd been chewing on it constantly for hours. "Barry, I-" she cut herself off, losing the words in her mouth.

She frantically smoothed her sweatshirt and sat down in the office chair behind her. "Barry," she began again, looking up at him. "I- We need to talk."

Barry couldn't help himself and he chuckled nervously. "Getting there," he said and pulled up another chair for himself, sitting down and watching her uncomfortably.

"The day before...our Christmas party, you told me you were in love with me. That you had been since we were little," her words were carefully chosen and her breath was soft, yet broken, like she was having trouble not just shouting out whatever was on her mind. "Why did you say that?"

"Because it's true," Barry said quietly, a small lump was forming in his throat as he watched her struggle with her words.

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "B-but why did you chose then to tell me? Why couldn't you have told me before? Before you-you went into a coma for ten months, before I fell in love with Eddie, before when I loved you too," her rushed words came to an abrupt halt and her hand twitched, as if it was going to cover her mouth, but it didn't.

The lump in his throat got even bigger as Barry opened his mouth to try to get words out. "I-I couldn't. I was too...scared, I guess."

"Scared? How do you think I feel?" She sniffed and put her face in her hands. "God, Barry, what is happening? I don't know what to do."

He leaned forwards, hopeful. "Tell me. Tell me if...if I have any chance? Any chance at all?"

She looked up, her eyes bright with tears, her lower lip beginning to tremble. "I don't know, Bar. I don't even know how I feel about you. But I know how I feel about Eddie."

Barry leaned back again and watched her for a long time. He searched his mind wildly, trying to think of anything to say and finally he sighed gently. "Well, it doesn't matter. I-I want to be friends, at least. Can we do that?" he looked at her, raising his eyebrows.

She forced a smile on her face and nodded. "Yeah, absolutely. We can be friends."

"Drive you home?" he offered, pulling his coat back on and couldn't help but be delighted when she nodded again.

The pair headed back down the stairs of the precinct, walking a bit farther away from each other than they normally would have, not wanting to bump elbows or anything. As they descended the stairs, Joe called out from the top of them, making them both turn around. "Leaving so soon, Bar?" he asked, then spotted Iris and gave a grin.

Barry nodded. "Yeah, I'm driving Iris home," he said.

"Let me take you both home, we haven't got a case," Joe came down the stairs to meet them, he looked between them both, noticing that both of them had slight teary eyes. He frowned slowly and then continued down the stairs, the other two in tow.

They all found their way to the parking lot and into Joe's car. He started it up and Barry tapped his feet, hoping to warm them.

As Joe started out of the parking lot, he reached out and switched on the radio. _Why Can't We Be Friends?_ by War started playing through the speakers and Barry pursed his lips and quickly looked out the window. He didn't know whether to laugh or try not to be too depressed about it.

A loud sigh came from the passenger side and Iris changed the station. Sam Smith's _Not In That Way_ played on the local pop station and Barry groaned from the back seat.

Joe West was not the type of man who was easily fooled, few things went over his head and the strange behavior of the two children that he'd raised certainly didn't. "What is up with you two?" he asked, slowing at a yellow light.

Barry sighed and said. "I told Iris."

"What?" Joe looked at Barry through the rearview mirror, he couldn't be sure what Barry meant by that, whether he meant about his feelings for her or about him being the Flash.

Iris looked over. "Dad!" she hit him in the arm. "You knew this whole time that Barry loved me?"

Barry groaned. "Can you change the station?"

Joe switched it over and _Title_ by Meghan Trainor came on, coincidentally at the line '_Baby, don't call me your friend. If I hear that word again, you may never get the chance to-'._ Iris turned it off. "We don't need music."

"Of course, I knew," Joe said. "I watched him fall in love with you when he was a kid and he hasn't gotten himself out."

"Shut up! Why didn't you ever say anything? Or at least hint?"

Tugging on his coat collar, Barry managed to hide his face and the red that was creeping up. "Just let me die," he groaned, sinking into his seat.

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><p><strong>Well, that was fun. Wasn't it?<strong>

**I can't help but love the scene in the car, cause that happens in every other movie. xD**

**If you've figured out the mystery of Tess Morgan, good for you! If you haven't, then I didn't do my job, cause I thought it was pretty obvious. 8D**

**Anyways, God Bless and may you all have a wonderful 2015! (not sure how good 2014 was for you, but mine wasn't great, so here's hoping for a fantastic new one!)  
>-Nicci<strong>


	4. Star-Corps

**Thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews, here's another chapter for you. This one's got a flashback too. ;)**

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><p>May sat down in the pilot's seat, switching all the auto levers off, she grabbed the clutch and set the coordinates. Leaning back and getting comfortable, she started off for Central City.<p>

Her mind drifted to her conversation with Skye earlier that day, there was something about it all that bothered her. It set her on edge and brought about unwanted memories, of when she was Tess, of when she was with Harrison.

In 1994, she'd been assigned an undercover mission - her first, to obtain the works of one Dr. Harrison Wells. S.H.I.E.L.D. had caught wind of the young genius and had decided that he was dangerous, and as it was before the days of kind convincing and winning smiles to brainwash their scientists, it meant that Melinda would be assigned to steal the research.

She'd donned the disguise of Tess Morgan, IQ of 163, two PhDs and four science awards. She'd arrived at Harrison Wells' lab, expecting an old man who barked orders at his minions. But instead what she got was a young man with a soft face and heavy glasses who worked with a group of friendly scientists for a branch of the government, whose name was never mentioned.

Suspicious as she was about it all, Harrison was quite the charmer back in the day and even now she felt a slight burn when she thought about some of the nights they spent together. She blinked slowly as more memories, raw and vivid as they day they were created, washed over her with a wave of emotions.

_Hair pulled back in a high ponytail, I slowly pushed the door open, my sneakers squeaking on the floor a bit as I entered the lab. The floor shone to the point that I suspected they had servants who came in and scrubbed the floor, to keep the polished look. But in reality, I figured it'd be because of the chemicals that are constantly spilled and scrubbed up._

_I looked around at the scientists in the room, there was a particularly taut looking woman, who had abnormally long nails and was carefully pouring liquid from one beaker to another. I tried to get a good look at the others, but a burly man moved into my way. His bushy eyebrows depicted the perfect image of a crazy scientist and his aged face made me suspect he was in charge, just by the way he was standing._

"_Can I help you?" he asked in a thick Southern accent. I cringed slightly, Southern accents always got on my nerves,_

_I cleared my throat and replied. "I'm Dr. Morgan," I held out my hand to shake - which he did brutally, nearly crushing my hand._

_His entire face softened and I realized the enthusiastic handshake was one of delight. "Dr. Morgan! It's a pleasure to meet you, we've been expecting someone of your talents," he waved her over to the group of scientists, who had now all huddled together, away from the newcomer. "I'm Dr. Barnes and I think you'll fit in very nicely here at Star-Corps."_

_The group of scientists seemed to relax once they saw how comfortable he had become with me, the taut looking woman even moved forwards and extended her hand. "I'm Dr. Southern, but you can call me Amy," she said, her voice wasn't as warm nor welcoming as Dr. Barnes, but it was enough._

"_Nice to meet you, Amy," I said. "You can call me Tess."_

_One by one the doctors came up and introduced themselves. There was Dr. Jay Daniels - a former Navy Seal who towered over everyone. Drs. Ed and Beth Wilder, husband and wife and also mortal enemies, oddly enough. Dr. Charles Ndoki, a small Asian scientist, whom I suspected was the smartest man in the room, he had the air of someone who knew everything, but told no one. And last but not least, was Dr. Harrison Wells, a young doctor who was a genius, but too soft-hearted to broadcast it much._

_I had to admit, I was quite partial to them already, each one was already growing on me. I guess I was too soft at the time._

_They put me to work with the Wilders to start, but I couldn't keep my eyes of Harrison, he was very interesting. He was extremely meticulous about his work, but he loved it. I could see the glee in his eyes as he tested things, he seemed to favour particle physics, the way they separated and reacted._

_Standing off to one side of the room, he worked in silence, every now and then a soft chuckle would come out of his fascination. His hands worked quickly and quietly as they swapped out petri dishes and typed rapidly on the computer, running programs to predict how the particles would react to different radiation bursts._

"_Tess?" Ed asked, holding up a piece of metal._

"_Hm? Sorry, what?" I whipped my head around again, feeling bad,_

_Beth smirked, knowingly. "Don't worry, it's not just you," she said, her English accent sounded very posh, whereas Ed's sounded more like a Londoner's. "Harrison's quite...symmetrical."_

_Ed scoffed angrily. "No, he's not. He's hardly even handsome."_

_Setting down the measuring rod in her hand, Beth turned to look at Ed. "Why do you have to be so belligerent?"_

"_Oh, I'm belligerent now? Well, at least I don't ogle other people. Whatever happened to _till death do us part_?" his arms folded across his chest._

_Beth glared at him. "Don't use that against me, and we all know that you've 'ogled' others on more than one occasion, no one here can deny that they've eyed Jay at least once, you especially."_

_Ed seemed flustered and started stammering out his next retort. I saw this as my chance to escape and I slipped away silently. I carefully made my way over to where Harrison worked. "Hi," I said quietly, pulling up one of the other chairs. "Can I hide here for awhile?"_

_Harrison looked at me from over his thick framed glasses and he chuckled. "Absolutely. Sorry about them, they get like this all the time and sometimes we have to physically separate them," he seemed amused by this, but I felt a lump of sadness in my chest._

"_Why do they hate each other so much? I mean, they got married, what happened?"_

_He must have seen the sorrow in my eyes, because he gave me a pitying look and pulled his glasses off. "Well, it's a long story, isn't it?" he said, thinking for a bit. He ran his hands through his hair and I kind of wanted to do the same. "Eddie and Beth used to be madly in love. They could barely keep their hands off one another, but...they loved their work just as much as they loved each other. They were working on a neuro-visualizer. Now that's not what it sounds like, it wasn't a medicinal tool, it was a, uh..." he chewed on his lip._

"_Was it dangerous?" I asked, leaning forwards in my seat._

_He nodded. "Very. Their aim was to read minds. They didn't have any willing test subjects, so they tested it on themselves. It worked, but not how they wanted it to. They read the other's minds alright, but it also spliced their brains, and sort of...forged them together. So Ed became equal parts Beth and Ed and the same happened to her. They're forever forged together, they can't ever be apart."_

"_Why not?"_

"_They don't know how, they need the other to survive, every night they need to plug their brains into a machine, a sort of neuro-generator - another of their handiwork. It's the only way they can survive."_

_I nodded sadly, I didn't believe that what he said was possible, but I didn't want to seem insensitive. He seemed to drift back to his work, his eyes trained on the shifting particles in the petri dish. It looked like he had some sediment in with a liquid component, that seemed to bubble over._

_I watched it, intrigued. The sediment dissolved into the liquid and turned a purple-ish color. It swirled together in fizzy motions, it was sort of entrancing and I leaned in to get a better look. As I got closer, Harrison's hand touched my shoulder. I looked up at him and he pursed his lips. "Best not get too close. Safety measures and what-not."_

"May?"

May's head whipped around and she saw Coulson standing in the doorway of the cockpit. "How we doing?" he asked.

She inclined her head a bit. "Fine, we'll be there within the hour," she said, turning back to keep her eyes on the skies, trying to ignore the small lump in her throat that had come with the memories. There was a pain in her chest that she just couldn't shake.

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><p><strong>And there's that. If you research S.T.A.R Corps on Wikipedia, you can see that there are no OC's. :) The same goes for Daphne from the last chapter, her full name is Daphne Dean, I'm hoping to have her in it some more, but I might not.<strong>

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading!**

**God Bless,  
>-Nicci 3<strong>


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